Policy Watch

Education’s always changing, and it can be hard to keep track. Policy Watch is the easy way to make sure you stay up to date with the latest developments.

Keep up with what’s happening in education policy

Policy Watch is our regular policy update service, covering national and international developments in the world of education. We try to keep things simple, sharing the latest news and information with you through weekly updates, monthly summaries, papers and events.

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About Steve

As head of UK education policy at Pearson, Steve’s been running the Policy Watch service for almost 20 years. He’ll keep you informed on all things education, along with the rest of his subscribers – there were more than 10,000 at the last count!

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Gradually things are returning to normal; the posters are down, the recriminations more reflective and attention is turning to what the future holds under a new majority Conservative government.

The week summed up

Next week, the Speaker will be selected and new MPs sworn in and the week after, the Queen will announce what will be in the new government’s first legislative programme where Bills on School Commissioners, City Devolution, the tax lock, welfare reform, free childcare and counter terrorism are already being touted. As the Prime Minister was keen to stress both on the steps of Downing Street and in his first cabinet meeting; ’we’re the Party of working people…we’re here to give everyone in the country the chance to make the most of their life,’ so let’s get on with it. It’s an approach dubbed ‘blue collar Conservatism.’

Elsewhere there’s been considerable speculation as to what might be in store for the world of education where, as the blogger and education researcher Tom Bennett remarked this week, both Nicky Morgan and Sajid Javid will have their work cut out just reading all the blogs telling them what to do. Further details can be seen in an accompanying Pocket Watch but clearly funding remains the big worry for many in the education system with all sectors voicing concerns. The manifesto spells out a two-stage plan to get rid of the deficit that will take us up to 2019/20 when, to quote from page 9 of the document: “after a surplus has been achieved, spending will grow in line with GDP.” Living in an age of austerity thus remains the continuing normal for at least the next 4/5 years.

Funding may concentrate the minds but there is another strong theme running through Conservative education plans and that is about improving levels of performance. This week’s report from the OECD on basic skill levels among young people and the ONS update on UK productivity have both laid bare the size of the challenge on learning and skills. The new government is clearly looking for each sector to up its game with a range of mechanisms such as more powerful Regional Commissioners for schools, more forensic outcome measures for FE and a new teaching quality framework for HE, all being lined up. The analogy between education leaders and football managers, both focused on results, has already been made.

Finally, and further evidence of things returning to familiar routines, the testing and exam season is upon us and the media has been full of well-meaning advice for families and young people as the pressures mount. Examples of this are quoted below but as the BBC’s Education page put it: “there are only two things that a parent can ever say to a teenager taking exams: the wrong thing and the wrong thing.”

Top headlines this week

‘Children as young as 10 smoke before exams, survey suggests.’ (Monday)

‘Legislation on taking over ‘coasting’ schools planned within weeks.’ (Friday).

People/organisations in the news this week

George Osborne who confirmed in his first major keynote speech of the new government, that the forthcoming Queen’s Speech will include a City Devolution Bill to help stimulate local economies and skills planning

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan who back in the hot seat, indicated that her priorities would include tackling poor school performance and rebuilding bridges with the teaching profession

Sajid Javid, the new BIS Secretary who indicated that apprenticeships, jobs and youth training would remain priorities as some of the media questioned the long-term future of BIS

Jim O’Neill who has been appointed as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury to help drive the city devo max and local infrastructure agendas along

The European Commission who have published plans for an EU wide ‘digital single market’ intended in time to be able to compete with the big US internet giants

‘Confident creators,’ ‘the held back’ and ‘the safety firsters,’ the three digital tribes identified in the RSA’s report on the ‘The New Digital Learning Age’ for which a number of strategic solutions, including a new approach for learning technology in schools, is proposed

FutureLearn who claim that their ‘Understanding IELTS: Techniques for English Language Tests’ Mooc course has attracted record numbers of students

Universities UK who have announced plans to step up their campaign to ensure the UK stays in the EU not least because it brings benefits to UKHE

Aaron Porter, former president of the NUS, who blogged about whether a rise in tuition fees might be on the cards during the lifetime of the forthcoming Parliament

Professor Kathryn Mitchell, deputy vice-chancellor at the University of West London who will take over as vice-chancellor at the University of Derby from September

The Core Cities group covering England’s 8 largest cities outside London, who have launched a Devolution Declaration calling for a range of responsibilities including those over local skills and jobs to be devolved to approved City-Regions

Sir Geoff Hall, former Principal of New College Nottingham, who is to become the new general secretary of the Principals’ Professional Council

The OECD who published their biggest report so far on how well countries are doing in raising basic skill levels among young people and which saw the UK ranked 20th out of the 76 core countries surveyed. (Hong Kong-China, Estonia and Korea came 1st, 2nd, 3rd)

The OECD who published a challenging Report on the Swedish school system highlighting three necessary reform areas (teaching and learning, quality with equity, accountability)

Chris Cook, Policy editor on Newsnight who blogged about the budget squeeze facing schools after the election

Head teacher Tom Sherrington who wrote an open letter to Nicky Morgan both welcoming her back and urging her to help with funding, curriculum reform and teacher recruitment

The professional body, ASCL, who will run a series of seminars over coming months to help schools deal with their new responsibilities in preventing young people from being drawn into radicalisation

The unions who have joined arms to urge the new government to protect education spending

Ofsted who published new data highlighting significant gender imbalances in the take-up of A level subjects like English and Physics

Ofqual who reported back on its recent consultation about which GCSE and A level subjects will or will not be developed for 2017

The accountancy firm PwC who announced they will end their reliance on A level grade scores when selecting graduate recruits

Amanda Spielman, chair of Ofqual, whose call not to get too hung up on exam grades was welcomed in some quarters

The Creative Industries and Institute of Civil Engineers who published a report calling for the creative arts to be given as much attention as STEM subjects in the school curriculum

Professor Robin Alexander, Director of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust who highlighted some of the policy challenges in primary education facing a new government

“You’ll kick yourself if you’ve only missed by one mark.” One of a number of worst things a parent can say to a child preparing for an exam according to a listing by BBC Education.

Tweet(s) of the week

“It’s like freshers’ week in the Commons with registration desks for new MPs.” @SkyAnushka

“Pretty much same team of DfE ministers minus David Laws means continuity +no learning curve.” @GregHurstTimes

“Best piece of exam advice: Look up for inspiration; down in desperation but never sideways for information!” @GuardianTeach

“Don’t get hung up on grades says exams watchdog boss.” @tes

“Gove was the Kevin Pieterson of politics, smashing lots of sixes but not making many friends and leaving the job half done, says Seldon.” @pwatsonmontrose

Acronym(s) of the week

EFA. Not just the Education Funding Agency but also ‘Education for All,’ the driving force behind the World Education Forum’s global education objectives which will be reviewed and updated at next week’s global gathering.

Quote(s) of the week

“We’ve got far more to do. That’s why I want another five years of standards, discipline and rigour in our schools.” David Cameron on what lies ahead for schools under a Conservative government

“It’s about listening, it’s about hearing what they’ve got to say, tackling things like workload, Ofsted inspections and building on all the lessons I’ve learned in the last 10 months.” Nicky Morgan on how she views her future priorities

“Coasting schools can give the appearance of achieving good results when they should in fact be doing a lot better.” Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Schools builds up the case for school improvement

“To some extent, you and your predecessor put enough changes in place to keep us busy for five years so don’t go crazy looking for things to do.” Headteacher Tom Sherrington pens his advice to Nicky Morgan

“The world is full of examples of improvements in education and there is no time to lose.” OECD education director Andreas Schleicher as he introduces the organisation’s latest report on the importance of basic skills.

Number(s) of the week

32%. The number of MPs in the new House of Commons who have had a private education according to research from the Sutton Trust

24. The number of MPs who have had some experience of working in education either as teachers or in other roles

£750m. The amount of money raised through fundraising and alumni over the last three years by Oxford University as its looks to hit its initial target of £2bn

£2trillion. How much the OECD reckon could be added to the UK’s economy by the end of the century if by 2030, all school leavers reach minimum levels of basic skills

735,000. The latest youth unemployment figure, down 5,000 on the last quarter

4. The number of reasons to be cheerful about a Tory government according to one head teacher

8 seconds. What our attention span has now dropped to, one second less than the proverbial goldfish, according Microsoft research.

What to look out for next week

House of Commons re-assembles (Monday)

World Education Forum meets to set the new global education development agenda (Tuesday – Friday).

So the last lap beckons and by this time next week we should know, or perhaps not if the polls are accurate, who has won the 2015 general election.

The week summed up

It’s an opportune moment to consider how education now stands after four weeks of campaigning. Arguably four points stand out.

First, while education has not featured as a high-vis issue in the same way as the economy, health and welfare, it has been in there as an important topic. The Lib-Dems have made it the centrepiece of their campaign, have referenced it on 24 of their hefty 157 manifesto pages as well as dedicating a whole pull-out chapter to it and have made it a redline in any likely Coalition negotiations. The other two main Parties have given education plenty of coverage as well, with the Conservatives citing it on 11 out of 83 pages in their manifesto and Labour on 15 out of their 83 pages. In fact learners in some form, be they school pupils, apprentices or university students, get almost as much attention as a reference group as those famed ‘hard-working families’ of Britain.

Second, none of the three main Parties has been short of pledges when it comes to education. Few have been new and not many are wildly exciting particularly when you consider some of the other work going on within and around the profession for a new National Bacc, a new inspection approach, a new college system, even a new 25-year vision. The Conservatives have 38 pledges on their shopping list, Labour 37 and the Lib-Dems nearly double that at 63.

Third, in terms of balance, the manifestos, let alone the campaign itself have gone with form. So schools/teachers/curriculum have got most of the attention listed in 20 of the Conservative pledges, 19 of the Labour ones and a whopping 42 of the Lib-Dem with HE some way behind that and FE, as tends to happen, with the smallest amount.

Fourth, in terms of issues, funding has clearly featured prominently in manifestos and on politicians’ lips with the Conservatives pledging to invest in more school places and apprenticeships and Labour and the Lib-Dems making much of their protection of the entire education budget to age 18 and in Labour’s case, the reduction in tuition fees. For schools, teacher development and institutional performance feature heavily throughout all manifestos, for colleges apprenticeships, English and maths, careers and employability are writ large and for HE it’s visas, vocationalism and value-for-money.

People/organisations in the news this week

David Cameron who promised to use £220m+ of bank fines to pay for a further 50,000 apprenticeships especially 20-24 year olds who have been out of work for six months as part of a five point guarantee for young people

Nick Clegg who has made an increase in education spending a Lib-Dem redline in any future Coalition negotiations and pledged to support free school meals for all primary school children from 2017/18

The Institute of Fiscal Studies who followed up their analysis of the major Party’s spending plans by doing the same to their tax and benefits plans and ended up equally bemused

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) whose economic growth report for the first three months of the year revealed a sharper slowdown than anticipated

The Complete University Guide whose latest report indicated that universities were now doing a lot more to improve facilities, reduce class sizes and develop undergrad employability skills

Warwick, Dundee, Brunel, Plymouth and Portsmouth, the top five ‘younger’ universities to keep an eye on according to the editor of the Times HE Rankings

The HE sector, 46% of whom intend to vote Labour, 22% Green, 11% Conservative and 9% Lib-Dem in a poll conducted by the Times Higher

David Willetts who has been announced as the new Chair of the Resolution Foundation

Cooking and baking, playing a musical instrument and learning a language, the top three skills people would love to learn according to a National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) survey published ahead of the Festival of Learning

The 157 group who published a report calling for an incoming government to consider granting colleges greater freedoms and flexibilities to enable them to respond more effectively to learner and employer needs

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) who have published their survey of the work-based learning workforce showing that 63% were female, 29% received a salary of less than £15,000, 25% were part-time and functional skills was the hardest subject to recruit for

Andy Westwood and Julian Gravatt each of whom blogged about the current political obsession with apprenticeships and some of the implications

The Edge Foundation who have taken over sponsorship of this year’s Skills Show

The Campaign for Science and Engineering who looked at the science and engineering policies of all three major Parties and found little to excite them

Cambridge Assessment who published new research showing the extent of volatility in exam results and argued as a result that it would be better for school performance to be judged over a period of time rather than on the basis of a one-year snapshot

The National Governors’ Association who along with the NAHT, ASCL and the Local Government Association, have published updated guidance on the roles of governors and school leaders

The NSPCC who have published a guide to help parents ensure their children are safe online.

“Education reform under my glorious reign? Find a better way of presenting/organising school work than worksheets stuck in exercise books.” @drlangtry_girl

“Let’s ban PowerPoint in lectures- it makes students more stupid and professors more boring.” @The Conversation

“Panel beaters and baristas don’t have to learn Shakespeare or chemistry just to be good at learning says Prof John Hattie.” @tes

“Is my mum allowed in? Job interview nightmares revealed.” @reedcouk

Acronym(s) of the week

QS World University Rankings. A global university ranking system that assesses over 3,000 HE institutions and ranks the world’s top 800 by country, region, subject, reputation causing considerable flurry amongst universities particularly if they’re near the top. Its latest rankings have just been published.

Quote(s) of the week

“If you’re young, want to work hard and want to get on, the Conservative Party is for you.” David Cameron

“Everyone can-with efforts and persistence-learn the maths they need for everyday life and work.” National Numeracy’s Mike Ellicock on doing the maths as Labour sets out plans for maths for all up to the age of 18

“Without investment in education, there can be no deal with Liberal Democrats.” Nick Clegg on where the Lib-Dems would draw the line in any future Coalition arrangements

“Apprenticeships have become a proxy for pretty much all vocational education and at the same time, cat nip for politicians.” Former Labour adviser Andy Westwood on the allure of apprenticeships

“You can expect some efficiency savings in certain areas but you can’t keep trimming and trimming and trimming and expect core provision to remain.” A secondary school head teacher interviewed for the Guardian’s education issues series

“The main reason (they struggle) is that delivering high-quality vocational education in England is nowhere near as easy as some UTC enthusiasts seemed to think.” The 157 Group Chief Executive Lynne Sedgemore on some of the challenges facing UTCs.

Number(s) of the week

£227m. The amount of (Libor) bank fine money that David Cameron has promised will be used to help fund an increase in apprenticeship numbers

£55.3bn. How much the Lib-Dems are promising to ensure is spent on education by 2020, up from the current £49.6bn

£600m a year. The amount it would cost to extend free school meals to all primary school pupils under Lib-Dem plans

517,113. The number of pupils in UK independent schools according to latest official figures, up 1% on last year.

What to look out for next week

According to a YouGov poll this week, education is one of two topics that voters believe is not being discussed enough in the current election campaign; the environment is the other.

The week summed up

Education did start the election from a fairly low base as seventh out of ten most popular voter issues but rose for a while to fourth and clearly remains an important concern for many, so what’s going on, why the scant attention? One reason is that politicians have been fixated by the top three issues of health, wealth and welfare, let alone the more recent issue of the SNP, even if as the poll shows, voters are becoming increasingly tired by the heavy focus on Scotland in particular. Another reason, as Aditya Chakrabortty highlighted in a widely trended piece in The Guardian this week, is that politicians have become increasingly distant from people’s real concerns “democratic leaders have parted ways with their voters,” he argued. A third reason is that there is no dramatic new political vision for education heaving into sight as there was with Michael Gove in 2010 and Tony Blair in 1997; little therefore to get your teeth into.

But there is a fourth, perhaps more significant reason, and that as the survey by The Key and Ipsos Mori indicates and can be seen in Friday’s headline below, is that actually there’s little in the manifestos or in what politicians are saying either to get excited about or that gets to the root of current problems. Politicians may talk about school brands, performance management and college responsiveness but the real issues as the latest survey shows are about constant change, teacher workload, funding and the quality of teaching.

In fairness, there have been a number of education developments this week with Nicky Morgan pledging to protect minority languages, Tristram Hunt highlighting further possible 14-19 reform and Nick Clegg hinting at Lib-Dem interest in heading up any future education dept but whether these are the sorts of announcements to galvanise debate on education, we’ll have to wait until two weeks to know.

People/organisations in the news this week

Nicky Morgan who pledged that a future Conservative government would protect GCSEs and A levels in minority subjects

Tristram Hunt who indicated that a future Labour government may well look at replacing GCSEs with a single Bacc award at some point over the next decade

The Labour Party who pulled together pledges on the minimum wage, tuition fees and internships into a manifesto pledge for young people

The Lib-Dems who re-iterated their education manifesto pledges in the form of a ‘Five Point Plan’ for teachers and parents and published a new strategy for the creative industries

The FT who wrote a piece about how overseas demand was fuelling a boom in London universities

The HE Policy Institute (HEPI) who have created a so-called ‘Wall of Shame’ of current disingenuous HE election pledges and issues

Alex Salmond who has been awarded an honorary degree from Glasgow university

Nolan Smith who has been promoted to director of Finance at HEFCE from 1 May 2015

Megan Dunn who has been elected to succeed Toni Pearce as president of the National Union of Students

The National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) who set out a list of ten policies for an incoming government to help improve adult learning provision

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) who officially launched its new website of resources and guidance to help providers adopt the new Prevent requirements

Ken Robinson, the influential educational polemicist, whose latest book on developing creative schools was praised by Tristram Hunt and others in an article in The Guardian

The SSAT who reported on the work of its Vision 2040 group which is attempting to set out a new vision for education for over the next 25 years

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) who published a route map and 10-point plan to help improve teacher recruitment

Geoff Smith, vice-chairman of the UK Maths Trust, who argued that it was counter-productive for high-fliers in maths to take their GCSEs and A level early and that they would be better served by being stretched in their current work than fast tracked

The Conversation who examined the issue of choice and provision of primary school places

NFER who listed five questions schools might want to ask when choosing a baseline assessment scheme.

Tweet(s) of the week

“Revision: just go to the movies, teachers say.” @SchoolsImprove

“We don’t need digital detox but there is a need to rethink our relationship with technology.” @JISC

“J.Hattie suggests every school should have an expert in interpreting data and evidence.” @tes

“There’s now a moratorium on the ‘Shakespeare bard from pub’ joke. Anymore and you’ll be bard from participating.” @tes

Acronym(s) of the week

Prevent. A duty, set out in the recent Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which requires education providers to help ‘prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’.

Quote(s) of the week

“It’s a big, hairy conversation that you have to begin early.” Tristram Hunt on reforming the 14-19 curriculum

“What we need is a period of calm and stability to help the changes of recent years to bed in and spread throughout the system.” Nicky Morgan on avoiding too much chopping and changing

“If you are a teacher, be assured the Liberal Democrats will get politics out of the classroom and give you the freedom you need to teach your pupils.” Nick Clegg re-assures teachers

“Unfortunately the electorate is at best armed with only an incomplete picture of what they can expect from any of these four Parties.” The Institute of Fiscal Studies assesses the spending plans of four of the main parties but is left scratching its head.

Number(s) of the week

0.3%. The amount of time given over to discussing HE in the current election campaign according to research from Loughborough University

64.3%. The success rate for 16-18 year olds in Functional Skills according to research identified by FE Week

1,000. The number of extra training places for nurses Labour is proposing from this Sept

600,000. The additional number of free childcare places the Conservatives are proposing

8.7. The number of hours a week of homework that a 15 year old Italian 15 year old typically faces according to research, the highest amongst EU countries. England comes in 15th on the chart, apparently with 4.9 hours a week per pupil

6½. The number of hours a day young people spend on social media and gaming consoles according to recent research.

What to look out for next week

It’s been manifesto week with Labour first out of the stalls on Monday followed in quick succession by most of the other Parties as the week progressed.

The week summed up

The manifestos have come in all shapes and sizes with the Lib-Dems at the moment claiming the prize for the heftiest at 157 pages, and at 70+, the Conservatives listing the most proposals. There have also been some interesting settings for the launches, a UTC in Swindon for the Conservatives and a pub in Essex for UKIP but how much they really tell us and how much they’ve really changed things is open to question. The polls have changed only marginally during the week and voters have remained at best bemused and at worst disenchanted, leading the commentator Andrew Marr to ponder why it’s proving to be ‘such a tooth-grindingly awful election.’ His conclusion? “The Parties have chosen to refuse to tell us what we need to know.”

How far this relates to education depends on where you start: whether you have an interest in a particular phase of learning or have heard it all before? It’s true that a lot of the proposals have been touted around for some time but there are notable points of interest for each sector whether it’s Labour’s wrap-around childcare, the Conservatives’ EBacc condition or the Lib-Dems’ funding guarantees. Funding has inevitably featured prominently with the Lib-Dems making a big pitch not just with their cradle-grave funding protection but also for the prospect of extra funding in the second half of the next Parliament if growth continues. However as the Institute of Fiscal Studies has reminded us, further cuts are inevitable and even protected areas could suffer from rising costs in areas like staffing and pensions so a sense of perspective helps.

As to what stands out? From the Conservatives it’s probably the requirements for 11 yr olds to retake tests, for secondary schools to take EBacc subjects to ensure an Outstanding Ofsted grade, for the scrapping of more ‘low-level’ provision and the use of more performance data for FE and for a quality framework for HE. For Labour, it’s the return of the extended school model at primary, the focus on teacher professional development, schools standards and vocational learning at secondary, the creation of specialist Technical Institutes and pursuit of English and maths in FE and the cut in tuition fees and development of the tech degree route in HE. The Lib-Dems would no doubt point to their commitment to the Pupil Premium, their focus on a core curriculum and parental guarantee for schools, their Young Person’s Discount Card for 16-21 year olds and their pledge to establish a review of HE finance sometime in the next Parliament.

The TES has revealed this morning that Labour has the teachers’ vote although in fairness, there’s a strong body of support for the Conservatives as well. Everything still to play for.

People/organisations in the news this week

The Conservatives who confirmed proposals to protect per-pupil funding for 5-16 yr olds, introduce resit tests for 11 year olds, support the importance of core subjects in schools, create FE National Colleges and 3m apprenticeships, and introduce a new framework for ‘high-quality’ HE teaching, in their manifesto

Labour who underlined proposals in their manifesto for protected budget funding for 2-19 yr olds, maximum class sizes in primary, fully qualified and trained teachers, a ‘gold-standard’ vocational route and a reduction in HE tuition fees to £6000

The Lib-Dems who pledged to put education at their heart of their manifesto and back it with protected funding for 2-19 yr olds and with additional money from any economic growth evident from 2017/18

The Green Party whose manifesto included plans to scrap SATs, league tables, Ofsted and HE tuition fees but did include proposals to increase funding for each sector

The Institute of Fiscal studies who provided a further useful report on how the three major Party’s spending plans for schools were shaping up; link here

Sir Anthony Seldon who has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Buckingham University from this September

TES Global whose acquisition of Australian company UniJobs will bring together an extensive global network of university opportunities

Gordon McKenzie, Deputy Director for HE strategy/policy at BIS who will take over as chief executive of Guild HE from July

The FE Trust for Leadership which released its first publication and announced its second round of bids under its grants programme

Three East London colleges (Newham, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge) who, as more cuts loom, are getting together to share some resources and facilities

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) who are drawing up a 10-point plan to help overcome teacher recruitment concerns

The Sutton Trust who published a Social Mobility Index for parliamentary constituencies in England highlighting best and worst for improving social mobility for young people

Tackle behaviour, strengthen teaching, conduct regular assessment, provide high-quality experience; four steps to be taken in in order if you have to turn a school round according to a head who has been there, seen it and done it

Tim Oates who set out to debunk some of the myths still perpetuated about the Finnish education system such as there is no inspection system and there are no private schools: there is and there area, but different

Primary school parents who have been finding out this week if their offspring have gained places at their preferred primary school from this September

“Which five-letter word means a stupid or silly woman in Mexican Spanish, a university canteen in German and in the English-speaking world an organisation founded in 1946 for people with high IQs?” One of 10 started questions answered correctly by the captain of the winning team on this year’s University Challenge (Answer: Mensa).

Tweet(s) of the week

“Mediocre failures? My children are simply being what they are.” @ssat

“College of Teaching has no benefit to profession says union.” @tes

“Labels are for jam jars not children.” @osirisedu

“How did we get to a point where ‘we’ll ensure good primary schools’ is the pinnacle of school policy?” @miss_mcinerney

Acronym(s) of the week

FETL. The Further Education Trust for Leadership, an independent charity and think tank set up to help share and develop leadership in the FE sector.

Quote(s) of the week

“The next five years are about turning the good news in our economy into a good life for you and your family.” David Cameron on the good life as he launched his Party’s manifesto

“I do not offer a government that tries to carry on from where the last Labour government left off.” Ed Miliband on a new beginning as he launched his Party’s manifesto

“The Liberal Democrats will add a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one.” Nick Clegg on winning hearts and minds as he launched his Party’s manifesto

“Our position is perfectly clear; we want our country back.” Nigel Farage on being clear as he launched his Party’s manifesto

“Last time round it was a piece of cake compared to what might happen this time.” Former Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell on how difficult Coalition arrangements might be this time

“Further education is a Rubik’s cube of a thing, adept at dealing with colourful twists, turns and about-turns in policies, purses, politicians and partners.” Dame Ruth Silver in her introduction to the first publication from the FE Trust for Leadership.

Number(s) of the week

£7bn. How much the Conservatives are promising for ‘good’ school places during the next Parliament

70,000 teachers and 10,000 learning assistants. How much the Lib-Dems claim their extra cash for schools is worth

74 and 52. The number of pledges in the Conservative and Labour manifestos respectively

157. The number of pages in the Lib-Dem manifesto making it the largest by far so far.

What to look out for next week

The week the election campaign moved up a gear with some important policy announcements including a number on education.

The week summed up

On Wednesday, the Conservatives announced that 11 year olds who hadn’t reached a level 4 in their Key Stage 2 English and maths SATs would have to retake them in the first year of secondary or as Nicky Morgan described it, they would be ‘resitted.’ The announcement, which was trailed a month or so ago by the Education Secretary, has perhaps predictably not been universally acclaimed: “Eat, sleep, test, repeat,” tweeted one critic pretty much capturing the mood of many. The government’s argument is that KS2 tends to be a platform if not a predictor for KS4, ‘only 7% of the 100,000 pupils who fail to reach level 4 at age 11 go on to secure the five good GCSEs including English and maths that are so important’ but for those concerned about the perils of a test-driven culture and its impact on children, the proposal adds a further concern. As for parents, the story here is that the Conservatives are considering encouraging schools to run maths classes for parents so that they can help with the homework. Ed Balls is perhaps one parent who wouldn’t need it. He was faced with the now obligatory maths challenge while out on the road this week, in this case: what’s 6 x 7; he got the answer right.

A day after the Conservatives made their KS2 announcement, Labour went the whole hog and launched its education manifesto. Its theme, very much Labour’s theme tune at present, was that things could be better and as if to emphasise the point, the manifesto listed 24 things a Labour government would do to make things better in areas like school standards, vocational learning, careers guidance and a fully qualified profession. The proposals, many of which build on the Party’s independent Task Force Report which was chaired by Professor Chris Husbands and reported just over a year ago, have been cautiously welcomed by the profession, with the promised funding for a face-to-face careers guidance system particularly popular. The emphasis is very much on preparing young people for a changing world, perhaps a deliberate attempt to distance things from the recent bout of qualification-driven reform and suggest that the Party is keen to tackle what has long been regarded as the Achilles heel of the English education system, namely vocational education and training.

A week which started with a Guardian editorial suggesting that schools so far ‘have ranked only as a second order issue’ in this election has ended with schools higher up the order. It shows how much things can change in a week.

People/organisations in the news this week

The Conservatives who announced that as part of their education plans they would require pupils who didn’t reach level 4 in their SATs in Year 6 to resit them in Year 7

The Labour Party who launched their education manifesto with a focus on school standards, vocational learning and carers guidance

The Australian government who has agreed to fund research into a potential new quality framework for international higher education agents many of whom operate without external regulation

Professor Charles Crook of Nottingham University who tackled the issue of whether university lectures should be automatically recorded and concluded that while it could overegg performance at the expense of student attendance, it should remain an option

The CBI whose latest economic-activity survey reported good growth in many sectors in the first quarter of this year and business optimism remaining high

The RSA’s Matthew Taylor who wrote a blog about the three dimensions of efficacy and how they help generate creative tension

Bath, Loughborough and Sheffield who came first, second and third respectively in the latest Times Higher student satisfaction survey. The universities of Surrey and Newcastle moved into the top ten for the first time

Guardian columnist Fiona Millar who looked into some of the manifestos coming from different parts of the education world and found the issue of school inspections emerging as one of the dominant themes

80 former and current school leaders who penned a letter to the Daily Mail calling on Labour to stick with current academy freedoms

Independent fact checkers fullfactorg, who looked at the issue of qualified v unqualified teachers and concluded that while there was no clear evidence to prove qualified teachers were any better or worse than unqualified ones, subjects such as combined science, music and biology had more qualified teachers and subjects like citizenship, engineering and media studies had more unqualified teachers (based on the number of teachers with relevant subject degrees)

The Read On, Get On campaign which called on politicians to support and invest in a new strategy that would improve the teaching of reading especially for disadvantaged and older primary school children

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) who warned that strike action could be on the cards later this year if the autumn spending review leaves schools facing more cuts

Next Friday, the closing date for applications from secondary schools seeking to host the novel Head of Wellbeing scheme, funded by Nuffield Health and due to be piloted from Sept.

Tweet(s) of the week

"The Conservatives are the union for parents-fighting to ensure more discipline, more rigour and zero-tolerance of mediocrity.” @David_Cameron

“Miliband: our task is to give our children the best chance to succeed; that’s what the Labour education manifesto is all about.” @ed_ontap

Acronym(s) of the week

EFA. Education for All, the global education movement launched 25 years ago by UNESCO, UNICEF and others to help provide quality basic education for children, young people and adults and where a new set of pledges are due to be agreed at next month’s World Education Forum.

Quote(s) of the week

“Funding will be a challenge. So will improving results. This is a system in a state of flux.” The Guardian editorial considers how the school system is looking at the start of the general election campaign

“The cold truth is that there is no magic wand we can wave to take away the double squeeze of public finance and demographic pressure.” Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt on facing reality

“Trusting teachers is at the heart of our school reforms.” Education Secretary Nicky Morgan on the Party’s education pitch

“The NUT does not think that most teachers can work to full efficiency to age 68 and beyond.” The NUT calls for an independent review of the retirement age for teachers.

Number(s) of the week

9% or 40%. Two figures used this week to claim how many teachers leave in their first year. As Sam Freedman (Director of Research at Teach First) explained in his blog, the first figure is the accurate one, the second figure includes those who trained but never started

£50m. How much Labour is pledging to put in to support its new careers guidance service for young people

100,000. The number of 11 year olds who, according to official figures fail to reach a required level 4 in their English and maths Key Stage 2 SATs

58m. The number of children across the world who don’t have access to primary school education according to the latest update on its global education targets from UNESCO.